Socioeconomic Characteristics of Farmers, Profitability and Militating Factors Affecting Small Ruminant Production in Ondo State, South-West, Nigeria

The study investigated the socio-economic characteristics of small ruminant farmers, profitability and militating factors affecting small ruminant production in Ondo State, South-West, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample Two Hundred respondents (200) from the four Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) Zones in the study area, in which 25 farmers were randomly selected from 8 different communities. The respondents were accessed and interviewed using a well-structured questionnaire and interview guide, and data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages, budgetary analysis and 4-Point Likert type scale. Findings revealed that 60.5% of the respondents were practising semi-intensive management systems, goats were the commonest animals reared by the farmers. The Return on Investment (ROI) was found to be 1.54 which implies that small ruminant producers will realize 1.54 on each naira expended, the gross margin and net farm income shows N253, 692.39 and N204, 327.08 respectively, Expense Structure Ratio (ESR) of 0.42 and gross ratio (0.45) which also revealed that total revenue accrued from small ruminant production is greater than total cost expended in the course of the business by 55. The study as well identified inadequate capital and high-interest rate of capital as the two most challenging constraints faced by the small ruminant farmers in the study area. Results obtained indicated that small ruminant production is a profitable venture mostly managed under the Semi-Intensive system and requires adequate capital for proper management of the animals.